The Michigan Dally
Vol. XCI, No. 45-S Ann Arbor, Michigan-Wednesday, July 22, 1981 Ten Cents Twelve Pages
R10 R
(S r -O
hin es on
20cetstm
Daily Photo by PAUL ENGSTROM
Ready ... Aim.. .
Art Fair preparations begin a day in advance as artists and craftsmen
gather to set up the booths that will display the results of months of hard
work.
Engineering student
*now a skilled*jeweler
From AP and UPI
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Postal
Service and its two largest unions
reached a $4.8 billion agreement
yesterday on a tentative three-year
contract that avoided a nationwide
strike but is hinged financially on a 20-
cent stamp.
The contract calls for raises and
bonuses amounting to $2,100 over the
three years, plus cost of living in-
creases, for a half-million postal
workers, who now average $19,915 an-
nually.
IN ANNOUNCING the accord, Post-
master General William Bolger said
the independent federal agency can pay
for the pact with a 20-cent first-class
mail rate-two cents a letter more than
Americans pay now.
Bolger was joined by President Moe
Biller of the American Postal Workers
Union and President Vincent Sombrotto
of the National Association of Letter
Carriers in announcing the agreement
on the new contract, reached after a
marathon 30-hour bargaining session.
The old pact had expired at midnight
Monday.
Federal mediator Nicholas Fidandis
assured reporters "this is the real
thing" in announcing the new three-
year pact.
THAT WAS A reference to the rever-
sal earlier in the day when union
leaders said they "hit the roof" after
finding that the mail agency's fine print
didn't square with the promises which
led them to rescind yesterday's strike
deadline.
Bother, Biller, and Sombrotto said
they would recommend their 500,000
members approve the pact.
"We feel its a good contract and the
membership should ratify it," Biller
added. He said the agreement main-
tains current provisions for cost of
living increases without a cap or health
benefit premiums, both hotly contested
points during the hard bargaining
sessions.
"THE ONLY KIND of cap in this con-
tract is a letter carrier's cap," said
Sombrotto.
The unions had threatened an illegal
strike, but hour-by-hour bargaining
continued with the aid of federal
mediators and union leaders told the
members to keep sorting and delivering
the mail.
The threat of strike prompted the
Postal Service to line up military and
National Guard units for possible postal
duty moving priority mail, plus steps to
allow the use of private firms normally
barred from mail delivery in com-
petition with the Postal Service.
BUT THERE were no reports of ser-
By PAM FICKINGER
Daily staff writer
When Joe Cyberski was going to
school at Michigan Technical College
he was studying to be a chemical
engineer. But after leaving school and'
working as a carpenter for a while, he
was looking for something new. Driven
partly by the desire to be his own boss,
he became an artist.
Now, like many other artists, Cyber-
ski spends much of his time traveling
around the country and working art
fairs. And this week, like many other
artists, he has come to what he calls the
"best, most incredible" art fair in the
country-the annual Ann Arbor Art
Fair.
CYBERSKI SAID he travels to about
25 art fairs each year in Michigan,
Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin,
Louisiana, and Oregon.
But, when he's not working the fairs,
he's working on his craft-jewelry.
During the summer, Cyberski says it is.
not unusual for him to work up to 14
hours a day. And, although the hours
are long, he says because of the in-
dependence "It's an exciting lifestyle. I
really enjoy it."
Just as many of the other artists who
frequent the fairs, Cyberski said he has
a lot of repeat customers and referrals.
He adds that at a lot of the smaller fairs
customers will ask what fair he will be
at next.
CYBERSKI DOESN'T feel that there
is a lot of competition among the
jewelers at the fair because each artist
has developed his or her own style so
there's a lot of variety and no need for
direct competition. He adds that among
the artists there's a good relationship
and that they regularly help each other
out.
Most of Cyberski's work is done in
silver and semi-precious stones. He
See ART, Page9
Bolger
.advises 20-cent stamp
vice disruptions such as the wildcat
strikes that marked the expiration of
the postal contract in 1978.
Federal law forbids strikes by postal
workers and other federal employees.
Any differences that exist at the ex-
piration of a contract are supposed to
go to binding arbitration, but union
leaders were opposed to that and said
they would strike instead.
The average postal worker will
receive an extra $300 in wages each
year in addition to cost-of-living ad-
justments, and will be eligible for $1,200
in bonuses over the three-year life of
the pact, Biller said.
BILLER WAS asked if his union got
what it wanted and he said, "We didn't
get what we wanted, and that's a fact.
However, we got enough for me to say
it's a good contract, and I recommend
approval."
The ratification procedure will take
about 30 days, Sombrotto said.
The Postal Service has twice asked
the independent Postal Rate Com-
mission to give it a 20-cent stamp and
twice been turned down. The agency
has filed a third request and Bolger has
said he hopes the boost from 18 cents
will be approved by August.
Union spokesmen said personal in-
tervention by Bolger during the final
hours of the marathond talks helped
resolve final deadlocks and bring about
the settlement.
Earlier, Bolger had conceded that
"we had a misunderstanding" over the
pre-dawn offer which prompted labor
leaders to order their members to stay
on the job. But, said Bolger, "the mail
is being delivered, people are working,
and isn't that good news?"